It’s certainly more of an art-house type of movie, as most of Anderson's films ultimately are. I would say, though, that I guess he’s just turned in his final cut and Fox have finally realised what they have.

If they can’t sell it as a Kubo kind of film, then I’m guessing that they think the best bet is to open limited and maybe expand later, although I’d bet it just stays a limited release (you’d expect them to pull the going wider truck if this was closer to awards season and they were hoping for that kind of recognition).

Looks, ultimately, like Fox just lost hope in the project, although their strategy of playing it as a "specialty release" might work out in the end. I hope its audience finds it.

Ben wrote:If they can’t sell it as a Kubo kind of film, then I’m guessing that they think the best bet is to open limited and maybe expand later, although I’d bet it just stays a limited release (you’d expect them to pull the going wider truck if this was closer to awards season and they were hoping for that kind of recognition). Looks, ultimately, like Fox just lost hope in the project, although their strategy of playing it as a "specialty release" might work out in the end. I hope its audience finds it.

I'm guessing they DID try to sell it as a post-Little Prince "Everything is classic in stop-motion!" Laika-clone on the strength of Kubo, thinking that Wes + stop-motion = "Fantastic Mr. Fox".(Seeing as most of the Fox reviews were "What a wonderful, creative stop-motion piece!")

And as those who sat through Mr. Fox could have warned them before they got a look at it, it does.

The bottom line is that Fox thought they were getting another Mr Fox (which played more widely since it had Dahl's name and known story attached), whereas what Wes has delivered is something much more Wes like. Like Budapest Hotel, though, it’ll make its money back and maybe a bit more. You either like Anderson's films or you don’t. I do, and I think this looks great. It’s just clear that Fox, having seen a final cut, have decided it’s probably more niche and in line with his live-action output than what he did with Mr Fox, where the established story couldn’t be played with too much.

I remember seeing Mr. Fox with a local afternoon matinee of parents with kids who'd read the book, thinking they were going to see some Henry Selick-like adaptation of Dahl that would be slightly better than James & the Giant Peach.I would say "Guess what happened when parents and 5-yo.'s were exposed to Wes Anderson... ", except that the littler kids did at least giggle every time the possum's eyes glazed over. They had to get some entertainment out of it.

But yes, suitably warned about why "You can dress Wes up in animation, but you can't take him out in wide release", looks like Searchlight couldn't be fooled twice.

It's very much a Kubo kind of film; if you enjoyed one, you'd probably love both.

The main characters are well-realized, and the story unfolds in a gradual but nicely-paced modern retelling of the legend which opens the film (with several fun surprise plot twists along the way). The stark design of the characters & environments are an excellent fit for the story .. but may prove a bit too scary at times, for very young kids.